Journal #42
June 2, 2009
I’m just home from a tour of the upper Midwest. It included visits with Robert Dyke, whose film TIMEQUEST blew me away several years ago; with a noted neurologist who specializes in life extension; and with a high school history teacher who did more for me than he will ever realize.
I also stopped in Madison and joined an enthusiastic crowd for Wiscon. It’s probably the best-organized convention I’ve ever attended. I’ve been to cons on both coasts, everywhere between, and in Canada. The characteristic they all share: The same kind of people attend no matter where the con is being held. I always feel at home.
I served on four panels: Ask a Pro, How To Ensure Your Manuscript Gets Rejected, Working With Electronic Critics, and Have We Outgrown God?
The ‘Ask a Pro’ panel was all over the map, as you’d expect. We dealt with questions about submissions, and what sort of material publishers are looking for, and what the future looks like, and so on.
If you’re interested in blunders that prevent sales, check out the ‘Twelve Blunders’ comments elsewhere on this website. The critical thing to remember: The writer is NOT telling a story. When someone tells a story, everybody within earshot falls asleep. What the writer is really doing --or should be doing-- is creating an experience. The writer should arrange things so that the reader forgets he is in an armchair, and instead finds himself standing on a beach with the love of his life under a full moon. And when she tells him it’s over, he should feel the pain.
Electronic Critics dealt with a phenomenon I hadn’t even known existed prior to signing on for the con. Basically, it is now possible to join in online workshopping groups. Don’t know why I was surprised. Online operations are obviously the way the culture is going. In any case, we had a couple of writers experienced with the approach, and we discovered that workshopping is much the same whether the participants are spread across the country or seated around a table. The method when criticizing others is to be constructive, to look for what works as well as what doesn’t, and to be honest. It doesn’t do the writer any good if his partners are just jollying him along.
As to receiving criticism, in the end the writer has to decide whether the critic has it right. Keep in mind that it is the work, and not the writer, that is being criticized. Don’t get angry when you don’t hear what you want. If the criticism is valid, proceed accordingly. If you’ve a friend who has taste and will tell you the truth, he is the most valuable asset you can have. Take him to lunch. Better yet, marry him.
And finally, Have We Outgrown God? This panel, and the audience, were sharply divided. At least one panel member asserted he would assault God if he ran into Him on the road somewhere. (Not my view.) My own opinion, if anyone cares: As long as humans face death, they are going to need some assurance, or at least some hope, that it does not mean oblivion. That’s not to say organized religion necessarily will survive, although I suspect it will. But I’ve no doubt that when the crunch comes, people will always bow their heads and pray for help.
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I was notified last week that SEEKER is on the short list for the SEIUN Award, which is the Japanese Hugo. The award will be made July 2 in Tokyo.
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On the assumption that readers might like to see what covers have been designed for foreign editions, we’ll start posting some of them shortly.